Linda's Back

When Linda Jemison sold Linda's Doll Hut last fall, she took her name with her. Now she's ready to slap it on something else, and it's a lot spiffier than her old club: the Grove Theater in Anaheim. No, the Grove—which used to be the Sun Theater, which used to be Tinseltown Studios—isn't going through yet another name change. Actually, it's the room's outdoor patio entryway, which will be officially christened Linda's Stargazer Lounge on May 19 with an opening night party and sets from Suburban Legends, Days Away and Jemison-managed band Wonderlove. The deal is this: before certain big-name Grove bills, local bands that Jemison books into the Lounge will play brief sets as sort of a pre-show to the main show. Sometimes, these will also go off in the Theater's main room after that night's Big Cheese Headlining Act has packed it in. The kicker, though, is that all pre- and post-Stargazer Lounge shows will be free and all ages.

"When I first met with the Grove people," Jemison says, "I just thought they wanted to talk about booking a band every now and then. But then the CEO told me they wanted to license my name and name the lounge after me, and I was pretty surprised." The Grove will work for Jemison in other ways, too. She had been searching for the right venue in which to hold once-a-month educational seminars for musicians that would cover such topics as booking, record deals, publishing, attorneys, managers and publicists—and the Grove people were happy to accommodate.

"I've been wanting to do this for years," Jemison beams. "When I was booking the Doll Hut, the majority of calls I would get were from people asking for advice about the music business, so this could really help them out. Most musicians can't afford to go to South By Southwest, where they usually can pick up those tips." (Rich Kane)

Poseur!PISS RYAN OFF!

Ryan Adams, the scraggly maned recycler of classic rock, has built a solid following among fans and critics stretching back to his days in alternative-country outfit Whiskeytown. As a solo act, he's had Grammy nominations, radio and MTV airplay—even the standard Robert Hilburn blowjob profile. Some people can handle that kind of fame—but apparently not Adams, judging by two reports in the current issue of alt.-country mag NoDepression. At an Australia show in January, Adams responded to a fan's jokey request for "Summer of '69"—the Bryan Adams tune—by calling the guy an asshole and a racist and then demanding that he be removed from the theater. Another fan, Jef Leisgang, was so pissed after an Adams show in Wisconsin that he wrote a letter of complaint to NoDepression noting that Adams took five-minute-long breaks in between songs to yack with band mates. When someone in the crowd called him a "poseur," Adams shot back with, "Fuck you—I make more money in two days than you do in a year."

"He seemed unaware that he had just insulted most of us with that remark. What an ass he was," says Leisgang, who also observed people walking out early, even trying to return souvenirs they had bought. Hurricane Ryan hits OC this Saturday at the Amphitheater Formerly Known As Irvine Meadows, taking part in Star 98.7's Fan Nation 2, a mix of performances, interviews and autograph sessions—and an opportune time to witness a gnarly Adams blow-up, we'd add. So we here at LowBallAssChatter are happy to announce the Piss Ryan Off! contest: the first person to send us caught-on-video proof of themselves getting Adams' undies in a knot will receive an autographed copy of the Weekly, signed by fabulous music editors Rich Kane and Chris Ziegler. We won't insult you, either—besides, everybody makes more money than we do. (RK)